Witness Says Villagers Waited for Evacuation Warning from ‘Middle Man’ that Never Came

As we noted in our first post to Tsunami Lessons 2, international protocol followed by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center requires tsunami warnings to be sent to local authorities, who then determine how and when to issue an alert to the public.

An online story at the Honolulu Advertiser’s website today shows why lives can be lost when protocol is followed rather than using the mass media to immediately issue a warning which is what we’ve advocated for five years since the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

The story quotes Maui resident Cristiane Martins, who survived Tuesday’s Samoa earthquake and tsunami:

"While Western Samoa conducts regular training in tsunami preparedness, Martins said she understood that much of the training teaches people to listen for warnings and evacuation orders when there's an alarm. That decision might have cost some families their lives, because they decided to stay and wait for instructions after the earthquake, rather than run for safety. 'That's way too late,' she said."

If Martins’ account accurately reflects tsunami preparedness in Western Samoa, it seems pretty clear that the population has been ill-informed about what to do when a violent earthquake occurs.

All of which reinforces our five-year-old conclusion that the international mass media represent a tool that could save lives but instead is being ignored in the name of local sovereignty.

NOTE: if readers have any personal knowledge of how and whether the broadcast media were used to warn residents in Samoa about the tsunami, please include that information in a comment, below. Was a warning broadcast on the radio or TV before the waves arrived? What warning methods were employed?